Question

I have an application that uses DBF files and I need to import them to SQL Server 2008. However, I also need to modify some of the data along the way and some columns will be added to tables while others will be deprecated.

So far I’m using DBF -> Access -> MS Migration Assistant -> SQL Server 2008. But I think that there has to be a better way to handle it. I’d like to get away from the Migration Assistant because it doesn’t let you modify the data when you import it.

Answer 1

It seems you’re out of luck 🙁

See this note:

Note: In SQL Server 2005, the SQL
Server Import and Export Wizard does
not support importing from or
exporting to dBASE or other DBF files.
To import DBF files, first use
Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel to
import the data from DBF files into an
Access database or Excel spreadsheets.
Then, use the SQL Server Import and
Export Wizard to import the Access
database or Excel spreadsheets that
contain the data from the DBF files.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Books Online, Choose a Data Source (Import and Export Wizard)

But maybe this other Stackoverflow question can be of help??

How to import a DBF file in SQL Server

Or check out some commercial and/or shareware tools for the job

• EMS Data Import for SQL Server
• DBF to SQL Converter seems to convert DBF file content into SQL scripts
• Full Convert Enterprise